Friday, January 13, 2017

Book Review: Ice and Bone by Monte Francis

Meaning is found in understanding the
un-understandable. Amid daily reports of the worst events in our society, we
may feel tempted to just tune out. But now and again it is useful to venture
deep into a story. Deep enough that it takes a thread of violence in all of its
revolting detail, and instead of leaving the sensational facts to rot before
our eyes, goes further, behind the cold facts to the passion, the heartbreak,
and the brutal tragedy from its inception in the dark mind of a tortured soul. Ice and Bone (Wildblue press, Denver,
2016, $16.99 Paperback) is such a story.

Monte Francis, also the author of By Their Father’s Hand: The True Story of
the Wesson Family Massacre (Harper, 2007) and numerous radio and television
stories, is not merely a hard-boiled journalist wielding facts. He knows how to
tell a story. His research and interviews were extensive in preparation for
this book, including interviews with victim families and friends, associates and
family of the serial killer Josh Wade, FBI and police investigators, attorneys,
and even correspondence with Wade himself. Francis weaves all of this
information into a chronologically coherent and riveting tale.

The first two parts of the book outline the two
murders for which Josh Wade was tried. In the first, Della Brown, an Alaskan
Native, intoxicated, was brutally raped, tortured, and murdered. The details
are gruesome. The killer bragged about the acts, saying they were motivated by
his hatred of Natives. Despite this, prosecutors could not get a conviction of
Wade of any crime except tampering with evidence. In Part Two, two years after
his release, Wade kills and possibly assaulted sexually a white woman, petite
psychiatric nurse Mindy Schloss. Francis outlines the series of events leading
to Wade’s capture and conviction for the murder of Schloss, and how this
eventually brought closure in the case of Della Brown.

Several murders of Native Alaskan women remain
unsolved, some of which are attributed to Wade by the FBI. He admitted to
murdering three men after he was sentenced to life in prison. The author also
introduces speculation that there may be other murders, even dating back to
Wade’s teenage years.

Certainly it is important that this story be
told from the point of view of the victims, their families, and the community that
was affected by the killer for many years. But Francis skillfully brings out a
larger issue without ever addressing it directly. By the time Wade committed
the murders described in Ice and Bone,
he had been in mental institutions several times. He had been incarcerated and
released. He had dealt in drugs and abused children. In spite of the terrible
guilt of this man, society shares in it. Perhaps these crimes could not have
been prevented. But being able to read a book such as Ice and Bone stimulates thought about the nature of abuse and
mental illness, and our common responsibility to find ways to address them. Now and again, we should do just that.